Why You Should Vote Mara Dolan for Councillor

WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE MARA DOLAN FOR COUNCILLOR

Just as the legislative and executive branches of our government must reflect the will of the people, our judicial branch must too. But as the data shows, Massachusetts is falling very far short of that reasonable objective. Massachusetts has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, and we incarcerate people of color at 7-9x the rate of whites. The state with the highest Latino incarceration rate isn’t Florida or Texas. It’s Massachusetts. Who is responsible for this unconscionable disparity? Judges. It is judges who hand down those sentences, but because Massachusetts wisely does not elect our judges, there is another responsible party that must be taken to task. It’s the Governor’s Council, because although we don’t elect our judges we do elect the people who ultimately choose them.

To make matters worse, the one mechanism our law provides to correct systemic racism in sentencing is grossly under-utilized. It’s clemency, known as commutations and pardons, which provide an opportunity for inmates who are rehabilitated and ready to return to society to be released, either by ending their sentence or by pardoning them for the crime for which they were convicted. Other states are showing that it can be done. Last year alone, neighboring Connecticut pardoned 1,045 inmates. Last year in Massachusetts we pardoned zero. This year, we are up to three, but only when you include a victim of the Salem witch trials.

The numbers on commutations are equally appalling. In the past 20 years, there have been 475 applications for a commutation. We have allowed three. Again we must look to who is responsible and see two layers. The first are the Parole Board members who refuse to recommend folks for commutations. But the second, and the one over which voters have immediate control, is the Governor’s Council. It is the Governor’s Council that again has the final say, as they approve nominations to the Parole Board. We must ensure that our Governor’s Council is screening applicants for the Parole Board to make sure that they are ready, willing, and able to recommend inmates for clemency as appropriate.

The context within which these injustices occur is somewhat easier to understand, though no more excusable, by looking at the makeup of our judiciary. At the trial court level, the ratio of former prosecutors to former public defenders who serve as our judges is 2:1. At the Appeals Court, it is 16:3. At the Supreme Judicial Court, it is 4:1.

We must correct this imbalance, and the direct mechanism our government provides is again with the Governor’s Council. It is ultimately voters who have the final say, by choosing at the ballot box Governor’s Councillors who will approve all judicial appointments, from assistant clerks to clerk magistrates and judges, as well as who serves on our Parole Board and, once someone is recommended for a commutation or a pardon, who will receive them.

One other thing. Massachusetts had record opiate overdoses and deaths last year, despite all the good work a lot of good people have done. Many folks with substance use disorders wind up in our court system. It’s time to hold courts accountable. I have seen far too many people taken into custody following relapse. It’s expensive, it doesn’t work, and it can make recovery harder. It is also heartbreaking for me personally as my own sister passed away from an alcohol use disorder. I know to my bones that what we are doing is terribly, terribly wrong. But even worse than taking people into custody for relapse, some judges in our drug courts have prohibited defendants from taking physician-prescribed medications like Suboxone and Vivitrol. Thankfully, a lawsuit filed by U.S. Attorney Rachel Rollins settled the matter. But people who relapse continue to be brought back into court and taken into custody. We must have a Governor’s Councillor who has seen this first-hand as I have, understands the severity of the problem, and will make absolutely certain that nominees understand the science of addiction and will work to support recovery. Here is the piece I wrote about this for GBH. Mass Courts Should Be Held Accountable for the Opiate Crisis

The Supreme Court established the right to court-appointed counsel for defendants who can not afford to hire their own attorney in 1963 with Gideon v. Wainwright. Since then, we have had 51 Governor’s Councillors. Not a single one has been a full-time public defender, and that has cost us. Public defenders are trained to not only question the government’s case in a way no prosecutor ever is, they are able to talk to defendants. Prosecutors never talk to defendants. But within the context of the confidentiality of the attorney-client relationship, defendants are generally quite candid with their counsel. This provides public defenders with insights and understanding into the folks who ultimately are receiving these unequal sentences, and denied opportunities for commutations once they have been rehabilitated.

Governor’s Councillors do much more than simply vote yes or no. They sit with nominees, and both the nominee and the Councillor gain insights and understandings into one another. An experienced public defender can help an otherwise qualified nominee better understand the people they will be judging. An experienced public defender can help bring balance to our badly tipped judicial system.

The racial disparities, denial of commutations and pardons, and gross mistreatment of people with substance use disorder that I have seen firsthand, over and over, in my 15 years as a public defender in Lawrence, Springfield, and Worcester, in our Superior, District, and Juvenile Courts must end. The people of Massachusetts want our judicial system to reflect their values, and it is falling very far short. What I have seen is not at all consistent with the values of the people of Massachusetts, and certainly not in District 3, where I am running for Governor’s Council. The status quo has been catastrophic for the vulnerable. It’s time for change on the Governor’s Council, the kind only an experienced public defender can bring.